cotton
pronunciation
How to pronounce cotton in British English:
UK [ˈkɒtn]
How to pronounce cotton in American English:
US [ˈkɑːtn]
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- Noun:
- silky fibers from cotton plants in their raw state
- fabric woven from cotton fibers
- erect bushy mallow plant or small tree bearing bolls containing seeds with many long hairy fibers
- thread made of cotton fibers
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- Verb:
- take a liking to
Word Origin
- cotton
- cotton: [14] As with knowledge of the plant, its name cotton came to Europe from the Middle East. It originated in Arabic qutn, which passed via Spanish into the other languages of Europe. English acquired it via Old French coton. The verbal idiom cotton (on) to ‘come to understand’ developed in the 20th century from an earlier ‘harmonize, agree’. This in turn has been traced back to a still earlier ‘prosper’, which seems to have originated in the 16th century with the notion of the successful raising of the nap on cotton cloth.
- cotton (n.)
- late 13c., from Old French coton (12c.), ultimately (via Provençal, Italian, or Old Spanish) from Arabic qutn, a word perhaps of Egyptian origin. Philip Miller of the Chelsea Physic Garden sent the first cotton seeds to American colony of Georgia in 1732. Also ultimately from the Arabic word, Dutch katoen, German Kattun, Provençal coton, Italian cotone, Spanish algodon, Portuguese algodão. Cotton gin is recorded from 1794 (see gin (n.2)).
- cotton (v.)
- "to get on with" someone (usually with to), 1560s, perhaps from Welsh cytuno "consent, agree." But perhaps also a metaphor from cloth finishing and thus from cotton (n.). Related: Cottoned; cottoning.
Example
- 1. Cotton is grown in more than 80 countries worldwide .
- 2. Buy clothes and other linens made from organic cotton .
- 3. Is your shirt made of cotton ?
- 4. For example , it turned out that adding too little cotton led to flaky and unevenly coloured paper .
- 5. Opt for bright or dark colors , which reflect more ultraviolet radiation than pastels or bleached cotton .